Transparent
by Sixelle of Fireyness
Summary: It's after the war, and though she was back at his side, he never looked further away.


**Title**: Transparent

**Rating**: K

**Summary**: It's after the war, and though she was back at his side, he never looked further away.

**Pairing:** One-sided IchiHime. IchiRuki if you want to translate the scene as one.

**Warning**: OCC (Out of Character). Since I enjoy messing around with things, I'm putting that warning up there, just in case. I won't be portraying Ichigo as a cusser here, so another reason for the no T rating.

**Notes** - This is a random thing I came up with on a Sunday evening. I was feeling a little emo. I won't say anything else until the end of the shot. Oh, I should say that you will need to be up-to-date with the manga to understand Ichigo's situation right off the bat.

**Disclaimer** - BLEACH does not belong to me.

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Afternoon, school ended, and Inoue Orihime rose from her desk, clearing away everything into her bag. The school bell continued to ring until she left the vicinity of her desk. She paced on the right of the aisle before eventually walking forward to the front, head lowered and downcast. She nevertheless placed a smile on her face as she eventually pulled to a stop.

"Kurosaki-kun," she said, all the love she felt for Kurosaki Ichigo flowing into her words, despite herself. Her smile became fully genuine.

And instantly faltered at his smile.

"Inoue." He simply answered. His smile was evidently false, but she could not and would not say anything about it. It was to be expected.

What she would do to make that smile a true one.

She could, too.

"Kurosaki-kun, lets go home, "She started. "Can I walk with you?"

He nodded, and started collecting his own things. Sluggish at first, Ichigo sped up at seeing her stand at the doorway. His slowness seemed painful at first, but Orihime would have wanted for him to take his time. She enjoyed watching him move, but her watching him must have unnerved him. She blushed slightly at the thought of having been caught and turned away slightly.

"Shall we go?" His stuff put away, he approached her, his smile back on his face, though no longer false. It was still a small smile, and Orihime wished for it to shine more.

Their steps the only sound effects, the two left the school building, illuminated by the afternoon sun. She knew better, but Orihime thought of their walk as a passing moment between a couple, not a pair of friends.

_'But that's never going to be possible…'_

Her breathe came in a sharp intake as they stopped by the park.

"Inoue?" Ichigo asked in concern. She turned her head slightly, arming her lips with a smile.

"Kurosaki-kun, there's a surprise waiting for you. That's why I asked you out." She almost choked with the last few words, and not just the last one since Ichigo didn't even react to them. She felt so devastated because he wouldn't come with her for any other reason other than to seem nice.

To make matters worse, she would not be directly responsible for his happiness.

Only this she could do, if only indirectly.

"Kuchiki-san has come to visit you."

The look of surprise tore at her heart.

Because not even two seconds after he made that face did she catch the faintest of a smile on his face.

She wasn't going to cry, though. Not in front of Ichigo and Rukia. She turned slightly, every movement she was doing now draining. She nevertheless succeeded a cheerful smile. Rukia's small face held a smile of its own, her large purple eyes taking in Ichigo, whom she hadn't seen in weeks. She aimed her smile at Orihime for a moment before turning back to Ichigo, her tiny hands reaching up and touching the large harsh curve of Ichigo's shoulder.

She knew Ichigo couldn't feel or see Rukia. So why did his smile seem to grow larger?

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**A/N:** Um, yeah, utterly short. Sorry, but I felt that if I added more, it would've sucked even more than it seems. Plus, this is totally no IchiHime.:C This is probably the one and only time you'll see a _remote _IchiRuki from me. I was semi inspired by the drawing Jessally drew for the next before last chapter of BLEACH (which is another reason why I was depressed). I wanted this out three weeks ago, but a Security Alert had infected my computer, so I had obvious problems with that. As a result this one-shot contradicts the last chapter that came out.


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